I have never taught a drumline before this year and the line is marching in its first parade in a few weeks! I'm having trouble adjusting these Randall May bass carriers. The girls esp. with their smaller shoulders have the contact points high on the back/shoulder. Does anyone have a method to make adjustments to these carriers?

From what I've gathered after years of speculation and confusion surrounding the INTENDED use of these carriers, both the front (where it mounts to the rest of the carrier) and back (where the back-bar mounts) of the U-shaped shoulder pieces should be even with each other. This leaves a symmetrical shoulder piece that allows the player's shoulders to sit as far up in the carrier as possible, not to mention that the carrier will no longer rest incorrectly on the player, assuming that they are practicing good posture.

If this doesn't achieve a comfortable position for the player, I'd recommend getting two strong guys to bend the should pieces to better fit a smaller person's frame. I find myself doing this to my own carriers, having a slender build myself.

I agree with glassmen07. I have bent a few carriers in my day both for slender people as well as people with really broad shoulders. Even still, sometimes the contact points are really weird and in some cases, I have also gotten the students to get something like a dish towel to keep the metal from the carrier off of their bodies.

Sincere thanks to both of you for your help. Does this sight have a forum for newbies like myself?

Newbies are welcome in any of the forums here. Dive right in.

Thanks, I've got a lot to learn! :-)

I don't know how thin or small your girls are but the inflatable cushion worked well for us.. it really closed the shoulders in without having to bend a the shoulders.. which I actually wouldn't recommend.

The shoulders of the Mono postos are made from magnesium which does bend but once you bend them its a nightmare trying to bend them back if you end up with a bigger player.. I was told to not bend them by a Randall May rep years ago just because magnesium could just break or never bend back..

for what we did with our Mono's for the three girls on our bass line was use the inflatable cushion to the max. narrow the shoulders in as far as possible so they sit on the shoulder blade.. we did some adjusting to the front for obvious reasons.. but that seem to do the trick. They aren't the most comfortable but I have seen way worse

I was unaware that the newer May carriers were made of anything other than aluminum... good to know, I'll be sure to check the next time before I go bending anything. =]

It's not just the newer ones. They've had aluminum and magnesium versions of their carriers for quite a while.